A couple of nights ago I fulfilled one of my wishes and finally got around to seeing The Wedding Present live. Apparently, the last time David Gedge came through Toronto was with Cinerama in 2000 so Toronto-area Weddoe fans have been in a holding pattern ever since. I've been enjoying the band since picking up "Watusi" in the mid-90's and I've picked up many of their earlier efforts over the years. Far from being a total obsessive about the band, I've admired David Gedge's work, if only for his manic guitar style and his sensitive-guy lyrical content. A little older, and maybe a little rounder around the edges(but then aren't we all), Mr. Gedge was really in top form a couple of nights ago. The band was rounded out by two gents on guitar and drums and a lovely brunette gal on bass guitar. They played a great varied-sounding set from the pop-ferocity of "Venus" to the melancholic Cinerama tune "Health and Efficiency" to the swoony "Perfect Blue" off their newest LP "Take Fountain". I'm a little disappointed in myself for not being familiar with all the songs but everything that night still sounded terrific. Banter was kept to a minimum and even when Mr. Gedge decided to speak up, I couldn't always tell what he was saying; I'm not sure if it was his accent, although I guess the rolled up tissue I was using for earplugs was sort of muffling the sound anyway. It was great to see David thrash on stage while playing guitar on the more manic numbers and even greater to see him play up to his vocals by way of his body language/gestures which reminded me a bit of The Cure's Robert Smith.
Opening the night was a decent band called Crystal Skulls who have an album released through Suicide Squeeze. I was actually quite impressed. They had a mature, textured pop sound at times, fairly catchy with echoes of The Smiths and The Police(like on the "Roxanne"-ish "No Room For Change"). Other times their pop sound was more obtuse, almost jazz oriented[guitar chord-wise], reminding me a little of Canada's The Wooden Stars. The vocalist had a great articulate way of singing that reminded me as a cross between Ben Gibbard and Bobby Darin. I did end up buying their CD "Blocked Skulls" at the end of the night; they aren't always melodically on target but they've displayed set of ideas that's definitely got me interested. BTW, they're a very respectable-looking bunch of indie-rock types; don't let their name fool you. Oh, and since they played a decent set, I'll also forgive them for starting their set a half an hour late. [photos]
Hey, chromewaves was there too and he has photos.
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